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Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Love UP!

I love the movie Up. Okay, so maybe the scenes of the mean dogs freak me out in a nightmare-about-the-time-a-real-psycho-dog-bit-me kind of way. But those scenes are few and far between. It is funny. It is adorable. And it makes me cry like a baby wanting his or her bottle! Pathetic, I know. Trust me, I know.

What makes me sob is the love story. I know, it is a cartoon. I do know. But you must also be told I'm a crier. Just ask my family...but I digress. Marriages are not perfect. I do know. Trust me. But dog-gone-it....I want to be loved and missed like Carl and Ellie express...okay, the animators express so beautifully. Plus I want to change one of my kids names to Ellie.....which one will it be...hmmmm... Ellie is just so cute!

I won't spoil anything for you (although I'm dying to tell you everything!!). I'll let you read what Family Life says about marriage portrayal and the Pixar Film people. Read the full article at the link above. (I've summarized the Up part for you...you can thank me later.)

And before you think this is a love-fest for Pixar. It isn't. The owners/operators/employees are human like we are and mess up just like us. I know companies do things people do not approve of so don't send me nasty letters! :)

My comments are in red....just so you know not to blame this Dave fella who wrote the article!! :)

In Pixar Films, True Adventure Is Found in Relationships
Dave Boehi
January 11, 2010

.........Recently I rewatched all of the Pixar films released in the last decade, and in the process I spotted another secret of the studio’s success: These guys understand human connection—the family relationships and friendships that define us. If one message comes through loud and clear in every Pixar movie, it is this:Each of us is created not for independence but for interdependence....................

...........Last year’s Pixar film, Up, was probably its strongest statement yet on the value of relationships. It begins with an extended and emotional sequence about a married couple going through life together. In one sense it is depressing: Carl and Ellie long for adventure, and then for children, but their hopes and dreams are crushed by infertility, by financial challenges, Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert!! and finally by Ellie’s death. Yet at the same time it celebrates marriage: Their love for each other brings deep joy to their lives.

As the story progresses, Carl clings to memories of Ellie by clinging to their house, even as the neighborhood gives way to modern high-rise buildings. He finally leaves on the trip to South America that he and Ellie dreamed about, only to discover a stowaway in a young boy named Russell. And by the end of the film Carl realizes that real adventure is found in his relationships. As his final note from Ellie says, “Thanks for the adventure—now go have a new one!”yup, sob-city at this point of the movie!

You can tell that the filmmakers at Pixar have families of their own, because their experience is reflected in their stories. Just watch the overprotective father in Finding Nemo, so afraid to lose his son that he keeps him from experiencing life. Or study the portrayal of the toddler “Boo” in Monsters, Inc. Can you think of another movie that has done a better job of capturing the essence of a two-year-old child? I cried during this part of Monsters, Inc....don't judge me....Boo is going away for like, for-ev-a!!! I get misty just thinking about it....where is that tissue when you need one....

Or consider the heartbreaking sequence “When Somebody Loved Me” in Toy Story 2, And, cried here too... about a girl growing into adolescence and forgetting about her favorite toy. You can feel the ache of parents who can’t believe their children have grown up so quickly.

I’m glad that the folks at Pixar have their priorities clear. Movies will always be about adventure, about self-discovery, about mystery, about the “human condition.” But the heart of life is our family relationships.